Discovering the Bird
by umpcai
Summary: While in the past viewing her former flames with Coop, Phoebe makes a startling discovery. The little bird who told Drake to help Phoebe is finally revealed to her.
1. Drake's Bird

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Charmed. Some dialogue is taken directly from the show.

**Discovering the Bird**

**Drake's Bird**

"Think of me when you dance," Drake De'mon whispered to his companion, Phoebe Halliwell.

The two were on a couch in Magic School. Several yards behind them, hiding behind a row of chairs, two visitors from the future watched the tearful goodbye. A Cupid, called Coop, had taken the Phoebe from the future on a tour of her past loves. He'd used his mystical ring to teleport them into the past. His goal was to understand the heartbreak the witch had endured so that he could help to break the protective shield she'd put up around her heart. The Powers That Be, Elders, had sent Coop to help Phoebe find love. They wished to make up for any hardships the Halliwell sisters had gone through in the eight years since they'd become the Charmed Ones, powerful witches for the force of good. And Coop planned to fulfill his mission. He'd known her but a little more than a week, yet he could clearly see that Phoebe deserved love.

Their trip had already shown Coop several things that could've put his brunette charge's shield up. He'd seen a demonic love from a past life be vanquished because of his won evil and a mortal one from her current life unable to accept her magical destiny. Now, Coop and Phoebe were viewing her last meeting with another demon she'd been involved with. Drake, however, had always been good. A year before his death, he'd made a deal with a sorcerer so that he could become human for a full twelve months; it was his dream. Phoebe had met him three weeks before the end of his year. The relationship had never really had a chance to get off the ground, despite how much they cared for each other. That had been almost a year before Coop was sent to Phoebe.

The time travelers saw Drake do a Gene Kelly foot slide as he exited the room. As the doors shut behind him, the Phoebe of Drake's time said softly, "I'll miss you." She then stood up and made for a back exit, headed home. She had no desire to stay in the building Drake was about to die in.

When her past self had disappeared, Coop took Phoebe's hands, "I think I'm beginning to understand. Let's go."

Phoebe pulled her hands from his grasp, "Shh," she ordered, quickly walking toward the door Drake had previously gone through. "I think I hear something."

Coop looked puzzled, "Probably Drake, uh, leaving."

"No, it's voices. Hush," she placed her ear against the thick door and strained to hear through it.

"I couldn't have tasted life unless you set me up with that sorcerer. I just wish I could save you, too," Drake was saying. _But, to who?_ Phoebe wondered.

"I've come to terms with my fate, especially now that I know it won't be Phoebe's, too."

"Oh, my gosh!" Phoebe gasped, recognizing the second voice.

"Phoebe, we really should go. This isn't viewing one of your past relationships; it's listening to a conversation you obviously haven't heard before. We can't risk changing the past," Coop cautioned over her intake of breath.

"It's not like I'm showing it to my past self," she whispered back. "My knowing more of the past won't change anything, not as long as I don't interfere in it."

"... pretty bold move sending in those thorn demons." Hearing Drake's sentence, Phoebe reached for the handle beside her and slowly wrenched the door open, praying for it not to make a sound and alert the past dwellers of her eavesdropping.

"I needed to be able to convince Piper to keep her faith of the love she and Leo share, so her example could help Phoebe do the same, find herself a true love. I had to risk it all for this one," Cole Turner explained.

"Understandably," Drake agreed.

Somewhere in the school, a clock chimed midnight.

Drake dropped to the floor.

Peering from behind the door, Phoebe had barely breathed since she saw him. Cole. Her ex-husband. The guy she'd once called the love of her life, her soul mate. The father of the baby that was stolen from her, stolen by his heritage, by demonic ways. The demon she'd turned to evil for. The demon who'd wanted to turn to good for her. The mortal who'd been possessed by the Source of All Evil. The insane, influenced by demonic powers individual. The evil that had ruined her life only a few short years ago. The evil incarnate she and her sisters had destroyed. The man she had loved. The man she had hated.

The man who was supposed to be dead. _How the heck is he here? And, he talked to Piper? How could she not tell me? Is he alive? No, Drake said something about saving him, too. From burning for eternity probably. But, Drake was good_. _What is going on?!_ _That evil, awful...how dare he interfere in my life after I killed him! And sending thorn demons after my sister, talking to demonic sorcerers!_ Phoebe thought in a rush, choosing not to acknowledge the beats her heart had skipped upon hearing his voice and seeing his form.

"Phoebe, who is that?" Coop's voice tore her from her thoughts.

"My evil demon ex."

"How many demons did you date?" he asked incredulously.

"Oh, I think you've seen them all now. He's the only one I married, though," Phoebe gestured with her hand toward the six foot two inches tall, dark, and handsome man talking to a now dead Drake. Ignoring Coop's shocked face, she focused her attention back on Cole and Drake.

"Ashes to ashes, huh?" Drake surmised.

"If it's any consolation, you did all that I asked for. You saved Phoebe's belief in love," Cole gratefully said.

"I did more than that, Buddy. I fell in love with her," admitted Drake.

"Understandably."

"Farewell, my friend." Drake reached for the heavens and was absorbed by bright, white lights.

Cole sighed once Drake had vanished. Then, he, too, disappeared.

"Why that arrogant, thinks he has any right to meddle in my life, should be dead, evil, jerk!" Phoebe ranted. She pushed the door out from in front of her hard enough for it to slam against the wall behind it and cause a loud echo to go through the long and empty hall she and Coop stood in.

"You know," Coop mused, "it kind of seemed to me he was trying to help you believe in love again, like I'm doing."

"What do you know?!" Phoebe yelled.

"Love," Coop shrugged. "I tried to get a read off him with my ring. I figured he must love you, despite being evil, like you say, otherwise he wouldn't go to all the trouble."

"And?" Phoebe demanded harshly.

Coop looked at her. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because," she faltered. _Why did she want to know?_ "Because, that demon has no right to love me after what he did. And, if he still does, well, then, I, I hate him more!"

"I couldn't read him," Coop supplied flippantly. "Probably because he's a demon. They aren't supposed to love." He gauged Phoebe's reaction."

"Oh. Who cares? I can tell you how he feels about me. Or at least how he used to. Demon or no, he loved me; it was the only thing he never lied about it. I know he died still loving me. But, I doubt he still does. After all, I did kill him twice. Well, actually an alternate version of me did it the second time. But, I probably would've. I let the Source control him. When he came back to life, I kept rejecting him, telling him I hated him, and that, no matter how hard he tried, he could never be good. He was pure evil, always would be. You know what the last thing I said to him was? That I felt nothing for him, not hate nor love, and when I found a way to kill him, I swore I would, too, that I'd never look back at our relationship. Basically, that I regretted the whole affair. Who could love someone after they said that to them?"

"I feel like I'm missing so much of that story," Coop said. "But, I am confused. That little narrative was supposed to make me see an evil man, right?"

Phoebe stared at him, wondering how her story had turned around. Reviewing it in her head, she seemed like the bad guy. She hadn't meant to go into the mistakes she'd made in her and Cole's relationship. Like how she'd ignored the warning signs of something being wrong, and her sister Paige, when he'd been possessed because she didn't want to face more pain in their relationship. How she'd pushed him away when he found a way back from the Demonic Wasteland to be with her because she was still in so much pain and still so angry, mostly at herself over the Source incident. How she'd drove him mad with her rejection. Hurt him, not helped him and guided him on the path of good. Not dealt with the fact that he was hurting, too. How she'd blamed him for the loss of the child that she still wasn't sure had truly been evil, as the demonic Seer had swore. How her repetitive cries that he was evil had allowed him to actually let his demonic powers influence him into being just that, instead of controlling them as he had done so well originally.

Phoebe had buried the guilt, along with her love for Cole, years ago, so that she wouldn't have to deal with the guilt or with the throbbing pain in the heart that comes from killing your one true love. Shaking her head angrily, Phoebe snapped out of her reverie. She wasn't to blame for the failure of her love with Cole.

And she said so to Coop, who was still watching her so intently. "Cole seduced me in order to kill my sisters; he made me the Queen of the Underworld; he killed innocents, even after he'd sworn he was good; he was the Source's right hand man for a hundred years. He's a demonic legend. He's evil. He didn't deserve to love me, then, and he certainly doesn't deserve to now from wherever it is he exists." _More accurately, I've never deserved to love him_, Phoebe's heart chided her. Her mind couldn't help but agree.

Hearing her spiteful tone, Coop couldn't help but think that this wasn't the woman he'd studied and come to be quite fond of. _Love and heartbreak can change a person though, _he told himself. _Especially when they're in such strong denial. _He knew Phoebe wasn't a cruel person. Her heart was bigger than most people's. She protected the world and its innocents, but more than that, she truly cared for them. She'd just been hurt by love when she'd trusted it most. It had made her bitter. At least he knew where that shield had come from. That wasn't the only thing Coop was sure of, though.

"Take me home, now," Phoebe said, "please, Coop. No, better yet, take me to Piper. There's something I want to talk to her about."


	2. Confronting Piper

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Charmed.

**Confronting Piper**

"Piper!" Phoebe called to her eldest living sister as soon as she and Coop appeared inside the Halliwell ancestral manor of her own time. "Piper, where are you?!"

"Calm down, Phoebe, I was putting Chris down for a nap. You have no idea what I've been through today. Some of Leo's old students were here and needed help. Paige popped in a couple times. I told her to get back to Henry and enjoy her honeymoon. Billie and Christy ran out of here a couple hours ago; I guess they'll check back in later. And... Phoebe? Are you OK?" Piper noticed the angry look her sibling was giving to her. "Pheebs?"

"Piper," Phoebe said calmly, "Just when were you going to tell me that Cole's your 'old friend' from Limbo?"

Piper's jaw dropped. "What... How?"

"See, my friend Coop here, he thought that a trip to the past to see all my relationships, would be an enlightening experience. Although the enlightenment he was thinking of was probably more along the lines of the reason why I'm not involved with anyone now. Who knew I would discover that my dead demon ex-husband isn't really so dead after all?"

"Phoebe, I wanted to tell you. I really did, but then I didn't know how you'd react, and I didn't want to reopen old wounds," Piper explained.

"Piper! Cole's alive!"

"No," Piper clarified. "He's definitely dead. Just a spirit who somehow figured out how to keep his body, and probably some powers, too, though he didn't admit it."

"He's not alive?"

_Is it just me or does Phoebe seem disappointed?_ Piper thought. _Maybe she just wanted to vanquish him again? _"No, he's stuck in Limbo for eternity. Too good for below, too evil for above. And I think being able to see you, but not interact with you, is meant to punish him also."

"Why don't you seem upset, Piper? It's Cole! And how could you call him a friend?"

Piper shrugged. "He helped me in Limbo-"

"After he sent the thorn demons after you in the first place."

"He orchestrated the whole thing?" Piper asked. "That figures. Still, he did it to help me, and you. Plus, he helped us a bunch when he fought along side us, too. He saved us more times than I can count. Yeah, he made mistakes, but so did we, at least _I_ think so. The one major one was condemning him for something he didn't do. Cole didn't want to become the Source. He was just trying to save all of us. I guess I've forgiven him. Hopefully, he's forgiven me, too. I think he realized I was sorry by the end of our visit, not that I said it, of course."

"So, you don't hate Cole?" Phoebe questioned. Was she in the twilight zone or something?

"No, I don't," Piper declared. "But, how did you come to find this out anyway? Cole helping me out in Limbo wasn't part of your relationship."

"Yeah, well, apparently Cole was busy last year. The 'little bird' who Drake said told him to come to me? That was him. He set Drake up with that sorcerer and then sent him to me."

"I should've guessed. After all Drake, wanted you to believe in love again, too. That was Cole's reason for helping me."

"I know. I watched his conversation with Drake, which happened by the way, right after I left Magic School after saying goodbye to Drake. If I'd stayed just a few minutes longer last year, I would've known."

"And, what would you have done, Sweetie? Cole's stuck in Limbo. He can't come out."

"What?" Phoebe nearly jumped. "I don't want him out. I would've punched him if I'd known last year."

"Right," Piper said. She glanced at Coop. He hadn't said a word, but he nodded as he met Piper's glance. She sighed. So, Phoebe was still in denial about Cole, or trying to be, anyway. _This is what I feared,_ Piper thought. _She would either let her hate or her love for Cole through if she found out about Limbo. But, I don't think there's anything she can do about it either way._

"Hey, I just remembered something. When you were in that coma last year, I thought I'd heard him. Being the dense idiot I am, I figured I was imagining it. But, he was there after all. Did Cole say something to me, Piper?" _Not that it really matters,_ Phoebe told herself. _I'm just curious. I hate that evil demon and if I'd known all this last year when he was hanging out around me in his stupid plane, I would've..._

"I don't remember exactly. But, I know he quoted some Shakespearean line about beauty as you left the room."

"Okay. Just wondering." _I would've kissed him! He does still love me! And I still- just what am I getting so excited about? This is Cole we're talking about. _She tried to picture Cole's old demon half Belthazor killing the innocent witch Jenna; she tried to picture Cole as the Source killing an innocent she'd tried to save, even as an evil Queen; she tried to picture Cole choking her when he was under a Siren's spell, tried to picture him killing innocents in his obsessive quest to win her back or in his twisted sense of right and wrong. But, for a reason she didn't want to face, the only picture that came to mind was the Cole she fell in love with, the demon who gave up his heritage and way of life for her, who fought on the side of good for and with her. She saw the Cole who swore to love her forever. She remembered his spur of the moment proposal under a shower of green demon blood.

She remembered her promise to him that she'd always love him, that nothing could change that fact. And as she pictured his dark hair, his clear blue eyes radiating love for her, and his smile, she felt her heart break again. For though the promise remained true, she had led him, and herself, to believe otherwise more times than she cared to count.

Behind her, Coop felt her pain. But, he recognized it as a good thing, for the shield around Phoebe's hurt had just shattered.


	3. Love

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Charmed.

**Love**

"What do you mean the barrier's gone? What happened to do that?" Phoebe questioned Coop. He'd asked Piper for a moment alone with her and had just revealed that the shimmering force field around her heart was no more.

"You faced feelings you'd buried. You stopped hiding from the pain you'd felt because of love."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm a Cupid, Phoebe. Any emotions of love you feel, I see."

"Didn't I tell you not to peek into my feelings with your stupid powers?"

"That's my job," Coop replied. "How else was I supposed to know when you opened your heart to love again?"

Phoebe said, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe when I told you?"

"And were you planning to tell me? Were you going to say that when we were in the past and as you were talking to Piper the guilt and love you felt about and for your husband, which you'd never let yourself think about, had come out from their hiding place?"

"_Ex_- husband. And I have no idea what you're talking about," Phoebe huffed as she heaved herself onto a couch in her childhood home's living room.

Coop took a seat opposite her. "And here I thought that admitting it to yourself would make you able to admit it out loud, at least to a being made of love, like myself. No, don't interrupt," Coop said when he saw Phoebe's mouth begin to open. "It's OK. You don't have to say it to me. Like I said, I know what you're feeling."

"Stop doing that!" Phoebe burst in. "Do you know how annoying you are?!"

"I've heard rumors. Listen to me, Phoebe. What you feel for Cole, it's what all Cupids dream that the people they match up will find. And I can tell you, it's rarely a reality. That love, so strong and true, not everyone's lucky enough to discover it. And, even fewer are able to hold on to it. I know it hurt when it fell apart, when time and again something got in the way of your happiness. It's no wonder you closed off your heart. And, yeah, I know you've been in love after him. But, can you honestly say it was anywhere close to being the same?"

Phoebe didn't honor him with a response.

"Seeing him again, years after the fact, when you weren't expecting him, it triggered your emotions to come close. That's a good thing. No matter how angry you may be, at him, yourself, whoever, it's good you can finally face everything. This is why you haven't been able to hold onto love since your husb... ex-husband, I mean. You already found your true love, and already lost it. You know, denial really is an awful thing."

Phoebe finally spoke up. "That was a lovely lecture. Can I summarize it? I found who I was meant to be with; I murdered him, and know I'll never get anything that perfect again. When I let myself think of it, only a few seconds every once in a while over the last three years, I already knew that. So, thank the Elders for me, their Cupid has been oh, so helpful," she finished sarcastically.

"I never said you were meant to be with him. I don't know about that. I just meant that he was the great love of your life, but know that you're out of denial, you can find someone else to be with, someone who you can love just as truly-"

"But it won't be as perfect, as right."

"Phoebe, some widows and widowers find love again, and they love the second spouse just as truly as the first. They're just as happy. You can love two people like that."

"You're talking in circles. It's making me dizzy."

"Love is confusing. Though as a Cupid, I thought I could explain it more simply."

"You can't."

"Yeah, well."

"Look, I don't want anyone else. Did it ever occur to you why I stayed angry so long, why I didn't want to deal with this? Because I killed him, Coop. I had a chance to be so, so happy, and I blew it. No future love can ever measure up to what I had with Cole. I've never wanted to realize that consciously; it just makes it hurt more," Phoebe explained, trying to keep the tears from forming in her eyes.

"But he still exists."

"But, he's still dead, thanks to me."

"Love can conquer anything, as long as you trust it."

"I can't figure out if you want me to find a new love, not that it's possible, or if you want me to pine over Cole forever, which I've been trying to stop doing," Phoebe said exasperatedly. Then, she suddenly sat upright. "You don't think that... Maybe it's possible to bring him back; I mean he hasn't moved on. Maybe I can pull him out of Limbo. And if he'll forgive me... You think that could work, with the Power of Three?"

"The power of you and your sisters is legendary, but my specialty is Love. You'd know whether or not your magic can resurrect someone better than I would. All I know is that Love and Magic can both do amazing things, and if they're working together..." Coop let his sentence trail off.

"I have to talk to Piper," Phoebe jumped up. She faced Coop, "Thanks, really. You have helped."

"No problem," he smiled at her. "I think my work here is done. I'm gonna go."

Phoebe nodded. "Um, could you not tell the Elders my idea? They don't really like him, and I don't want them to know unless it's after it's too late for them to try to botch up my plan."

"You seem pretty confident now."

"When I set my mind to something, I usually get it," she said happily, but soon she sobered, "That's how I got him killed."

"Just trust in the power of love, Phoebe," Coop said before a frosty white glow covered his body and he vanished.

Phoebe turned to the stairs, "Piper!"


	4. The Plans

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Charmed.

**The Plans**

"You want to resurrect him?" Piper asked in disbelief. "You acted like you hated him not twenty minutes ago."

"Hate is a breath away from love. Cole told me that once."

"Uh-huh. So what makes you think we even have the power to do something like that? God knows we tried with Prue," Piper said, referring to the sister they had lost because of a demonic hit man several years earlier. Spells, potions- they'd tried everything to bring the fallen Charmed One back into their lives. Even now, they had yet to see her in ghostly form, as they often did with their deceased Grams, and occasionally their mother. Piper cleared her head from the sad thoughts. One day the fates would be on her side; she'd be able to see her big sister again; her husband Leo, stolen by Destiny and frozen a few months before, would be returned so that they could grow old together and live happily; demon attacks would lessen; and her two boys would be able to have a more peaceful life than she had led in the last eight years, or at the very least they would stay safe and keep their innocence about the world longer than her son Chris' future self had. She was thinking sad things again, Piper realized. That version of her child had been killed while in the past almost two years ago. But, they'd already changed the circumstances that led to his demise. This time around his life wouldn't take that turn. Wyatt and Chris were both good and healthy now.

"Piper, are you listening to me?" Phoebe asked.

"Sorry, my mind must have drifted."

"I said," Phoebe repeated, the flash of pain on her face visible for a brief moment, "that Prue was already up there when we tried to get her back. So, we couldn't revive her. Cole's just in between life and death, though. I think with the Power of Three it would work."

"I think it's personal gain. We can't do that." It was one of what sometimes seemed like a thousand rules placed on their good witch activities.

"I don't think it falls in that category. The Elders sent Coop to help me find my love. We're just taking it a step further and bringing him to me. They can't get mad at my expanding their own idea," Phoebe explained.

"But they will," Piper claimed.

Phoebe grinned and put an arm around her sister's shoulders, "Since when do you have a problem with making the Elders angry?"

"You're right," Piper smiled back. It was no secret that she and the Elders weren't exactly the best of friends. The friction had started years earlier, after Piper had broken their rules by falling in love with her Whitelighter, a guardian angel assigned to witches. The Elders fought against her by proclaiming she couldn't marry Leo. Since then, there had been constant arguments between the two. Piper smiled sadly, thinking of her husband.

"Piper, you OK?"

"Yeah, just thinking of Leo."

"Oh, Sweetie," Phoebe said comfortingly, "we'll get him back. As soon as we find out what evil we're supposed to face, we'll beat it, and the Angel of Destiny will have no choice but to bring him back."

"Yeah, I know. But, about Cole; I think I have a spell that will let us talk to him, see if he can think of any way for us to bring him back."

"I don't remember seeing a spell like that in the Book," Phoebe observed. "It's one to talk to someone in Limbo? I think I would remember something like that. Do you know who wrote it?"

"Yeah, me," Piper said sheepishly, "I was thinking of talking to him about something."

Phoebe stared at her, "And you were just fussing at me about personal gain? What did you want to see Cole about?"

"Hey, I said it was to talk to him, not bring him back to life. And it would've been for the good of the world, not just my family."

"Explain."

"Well, when we were trying to think of how to vanquish the Triad last week, I thought it would be a good idea to talk to Cole, since he's the one who vanquished them the first time. But, then we thought of another plan, which really I was happy about, because I didn't want to think of what you and Paige would've said when I summoned Cole. I wrote the spell that night, though, just in case the Triad decided to come back to life again. Cole worked with them; he was a powerful demon in the Underworld. I thought he might have information about them that we could use. Stuff he never bothered to tell us when he was alive, since he thought they were dead for good. Of course, I wouldn't have made him give me information; I wouldn't even expect it, only ask. After everything that happened, we've got no right to demand his services. We did that before, and, honestly, I can't remember ever saying thank you."

Phoebe nodded in agreement, "I treated him so horribly."

"We all did. I'm glad the spell will be used to help him, now. And hopefully the Triad won't come back. It's really annoying when demons we vanquish decide they don't like the afterlife and bring themselves back."

"Cole started that."

"No," Piper disagreed. "Remember, a year after we got our powers that ugly demon stole the Book and brought back everything we'd destroyed."

"Oh, yeah. Abraxas wasn't it? But that was him bringing the demons back; they didn't resurrect themselves. It's the same as with the old Source at the end of last year; that demon lady brought him back."

"That's annoying too. But, I guess you're right. Cole and the Triad are the only demons I can think of off the top of my head that brought themselves back."

"And Barbas; he came back a lot."

Piper grimaced. "Don't remind me of him. I hope he really is gone. If he pops up again, I think I'll go crazy. It's so annoying to keep getting rid of him."

"Definitely. So, where is that spell you were talking about?"

"In my room. I guess we're going to help continue the tradition of demons not staying vanquished."

"Why are we continuing that tradition?" Paige asked as she appeared before Piper and Phoebe via the orbing ability that all Whitelighters had.

"Um, well, see Honey, I want to bring Cole back," Phoebe stated, preparing for the ensuing outburst she knew was coming.

"Are you insane? I'm not bringing that demon back! Are you possessed or something? Why would you want to resurrect _Cole_?"

"Paige, just calm down and listen," Phoebe begged.

"Not unless you're gonna tell me you're joking. Jeez, I come back because Henry's with the sharks again and I wanted to visit with you guys instead of being bored waiting for him to get back. And, you, you ambush me with that. Wonderful greeting."

"I just wanted to be honest. Coop took me to the past earlier to see my old relationships. I found out, by staying at Magic School longer after I said goodbye to Drake last year, that Cole is Piper's old friend from Limbo and that he set Drake up with that sorcerer."

"He's your what?!" Paige rounded on Piper. "A _friend_? Of all the things to call him, Piper!"

"Phoebe and I have come to the conclusion that it wasn't just Cole who made mistakes in the past. We were responsible, too."

"Coop helped me to see I can't give up on love, no matter how painful it is," Phoebe picked up. "I want Cole back."

"This is ridiculous. Something must be controlling you," Paige insisted.

"It really is me, Paige. I've just stopped running from my feelings for Cole now."

"And what feelings would those be?" Paige asked, though she was sure she didn't want to here the answer. After everything they'd done to get rid of Cole, and now her sisters wanted to bring him back. _I should've stayed on my honeymoon._

"I love Cole," Phoebe said. She smiled, "You have no idea how great it feels to say that again."

Paige looked disgusted.

"Don't you want Phoebe to have what you and Henry have? What Leo and I have," Piper asked, laying on the guilt.

Paige shrugged, annoyed. "Why can't she have that with someone other than Cole?" she whined. "I hate the guy." But, looking at Phoebe's face, Paige realized she was fighting a losing battle. She thought of when she first met Phoebe, right after Prue's death. Cole had been with Phoebe then. Paige remembered how, watching them, she'd wished she could someday find a love like the one they shared. Phoebe hadn't looked that happy and in love in any relationship she'd had since Cole, Page realized. Now, Paige had what she'd envied of Phoebe. And she was going to stand in the way of her beloved sister having that again? Paige sighed. She was going to help resurrect the man who had in the past been both the Charmed Ones greatest enemy and their greatest ally. "I'm in,' she said, defeated.

"Oh, thank you, Paige. Thank you so much!" Phoebe hugged her baby sister.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll give him another chance since it'll make you happy, but I don't like it. Aside from all the demonic trouble we had with him before, the guy's just really annoying," she complained.

"Oh, don't I know it," Piper said.

"Guys," Phoebe admonished them.

"Seriously, I'll help, Phoebe. If I stretch my imagination, I guess I can understand how you guys don't think everything was his fault. And, on some level, I agree. But, at the same time, well, let's just say, it'll take some time before I ever trust Cole again."

"I know, Paige."

"So, do you have a spell or something?"

"Piper was about to go get the one she wrote," Phoebe told Paige.

"Piper wrote it?"

"Phoebe, you explain. I'll get the spell," Piper called as she made her way toward her bedroom to retrieve the spell.


	5. Happiness

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Charmed.

**Happiness**

"Piper, this is great!" squealed Phoebe, as the trio stood in the manor's attic. "In fact, I think if I reword this a little and we say it as a Power of Three spell, we can actually bring him back now, not just talk to him."

"Hey, what if he doesn't want to come back? Not to put a damper on your joy, Pheebs, but you did kill the guy."

Phoebe looked at Paige, "I don't know. Coop can't get a read on demons, so he couldn't tell his feelings. He said that Cole must still love me though, or he wouldn't try to save me from myself."

"Oh, I'm sure he still loves you. It is Cole. But, that doesn't necessarily mean he wants to come back to you."

"Or," Piper added, "maybe he just won't want to come back. I never thought about it earlier, but when I talked to Cole in Limbo, he said he accepted his fate; he thinks he deserves to be there,"

"That's what he told Drake. But he doesn't Piper. And even if he can't forgive me and doesn't want to start our relationship over; even if he thinks he belongs in that plane of existence, I owe it to him, for not believing in him or helping him, to give him another chance at life, even if it's not with me. I'll convince him he deserves the chance to be good and alive that I never let him have."

"That's true with what happened after the Source fiasco. But, what about everything he did as Belthazor. He may be good now, but he did do great evil in the past. Maybe he thinks he needs to pay for those crimes."

"Piper, he's remorseful for that. You don't know how he struggled with that guilt when we were together. And, anyway, I think three years in solitude with nothing to do but reflect on those actions is more than enough punishment."

"Do you think the Powers That Be will see it that way?" Paige questioned.

"Who cares? Cole should've had the chance to continue doing good to help make up for his past. I took that chance away and now I'm going to give it back. He is good, you'll see," said Phoebe, determined.

Piper spoke up again, "I believe Cole has a good soul and heart, Phoebe. I'm not arguing with you there." She sighed, "We still don't know that he wants to come back."

"After he's alive again, he can't say no. And it's not like he's gonna go kill himself."

"It wouldn't be the first time he tried," Paige pointed out. When Cole had lost his mind right before his final vanquish, he had tried everything to destroy his invincible body.

"He wasn't himself then. I'll be there for him this time, as a friend at least. So, he'll be fine. There, I'm done with the spell. This should work." Phoebe had been making alterations to Piper's spell during the conversation with her concerned sisters. "Let's do this."

Piper and Paige took their places on either side of Phoebe and glanced at the piece of paper in her hand. In unison, the three recited the verses.

"_Face to face, bring us Cole._

_Because we stole his chance to be good,_

_We call him from Limbo, body and soul._

_Restore him to life; let all be as it should._

_Let him not suffer for our mistake,_

_Through the Power of Three, let Cole awake."_

A flash of light formed in the middle of the room and in front of the sisters stood the formerly vanquished, now confused, Cole. Shell shocked, he gaped at his ex-wife and her sisters.

"Welcome back," Piper grinned.

Piper's voice broke through Phoebe's daze of just staring at her ex. Without thinking about it, she quickly strode across the attic floor and wrapped her arms around Cole's neck. She buried her head beneath his chin, a few tears escaping through her closed eyes.

Unsure of what to do, Cole stood still, his confusion growing, until Phoebe snuggled into his strong chest, urging him to embrace her. Slowly he wrapped his arms around Phoebe's waist, holding her close. As wonderful as it felt holding her again, Cole had no idea what was going on. He figured this is what he got for forcing himself not to check in on Phoebe as often as he had before his confrontation with Piper. He knew Piper wasn't happy about his spying, though, so he'd made himself stop.

As he gazed down at Phoebe, Cole savored the feel and smell of her, lest he was dreaming and when he woke up, she'd be gone, never looking back at their relationship and thrilled that he was gone. But, then, he didn't sleep.

He spared a look at Piper over Phoebe's head. She was chuckling at his bewilderment. A couple feet from her, Paige had a mix of happiness and annoyance on her face.

Phoebe whispered, "I'm sorry."

Cole seemed to regain the use of his voice at hearing her, "What?"

Pulling away slightly, she looked into his face. Unable to stop a smile from spreading across her face or her hand from moving to caress his cheek, she explained. "I'm sorry, for everything I put you through. For hurting you, not believing in you, not helping you, for driving you crazy, and all but actually throwing the potion that killed you. I'm sorry I pushed you away and blamed you for everything because I was hurting. I'm sorry I buried my feelings. I'm sorry I didn't let you be good. Because you are good, Baby. You have a good soul and a good heart."

"Did she just call me Baby?" Cole asked to no one in particular.

Phoebe giggled. "I love you, Cole."

He jerked from his stupor, "You what?"

"I had a Cupid make me come out of denial. I love you. And we brought you back to life so that you can have the chance at life I stole from you," she paused. "If you can't forgive me and don't want to give our relationship another shot, I at least want you to be able to live, as a good man, like you wanted before, even if it's away from me."

"You resurrected me? Because you love me? Apparently you miss a lot being dead and not spying." He looked at Phoebe. "I'm the one who needs to apologize. I hurt you and your sisters. I-"

Phoebe cut him off as she brought her lips to his. The kiss deepened until Paige made a noise of repulsion in the background. "We all made mistakes," She told him. Piper nodded in agreement and at a gentle push from her, Paige did also, albeit reluctantly.

"So, you don't have powers, do you?" Paige piped up.

"I did where I was stuck, the same ones I picked up in the Wasteland, not that they helped against my confinement."

"I knew you had powers," Piper accused.

"Sorry," he told her, "We didn't have time to argue about it that day."

Cole turned to explain to Phoebe, but she spoke first, "I know. Coop, the Cupid, was taking me on a tour of my past loves. I saw you talking to Drake and then confronted Piper when I got back to this time."

"Yeah, so about those powers," Paige said, "Did they come with you when you left Limbo?"

Blurring from one side of Phoebe to the other, Cole's instant teleportation answered the question. "At least I lost the Avatar powers after my alternate world," he said. The power of those beings was something he hadn't really wanted in the first place. Upon arriving in Limbo, Cole had been glad to realize that, while his vast array of demonic powers had returned and Belthazor's disappeared again, the Avatar power was nowhere to be found.

"When were you an Avatar?"

Cole looked at their surprised, and a bit angry, faces. The Avatars had made Leo one of them, killed Paige's old boyfriend, and tried to control the world by erasing mortals' free will a little over a year before. "I guess you didn't know that. I thought they would have told Leo when he joined them. I didn't want to be one of them. They came to me after I, um, disposed of those two guys at that bar. I turned them down initially, but they hounded me for weeks. And, after my failure with the Nexus, I didn't have anything left to lose. I knew they just wanted power and to control the world their own way, but, in my state of... madness, I figured I could use that to my advantage."

"That's how you altered the world," Paige realized. "I don't know why we never saw that. It makes so much sense that the Avatars would want your power."

"I think they wanted my connection to you, too. That's why they let me die and weaken the collective after they realized that bond was severed. It was worth giving up even my power if they could somehow get the Charmed Ones."

"So, they waited until Leo was unstable and went after him," Piper said. "I hate them more, now."

"But, everything worked out, Piper. Leo came out OK," Phoebe said.

"Yeah, and now he's an icicle."

"Excuse me?"

Phoebe answered Cole, "We had to freeze him so that he wouldn't die. Then, an Angel of Destiny took him. He'll come back after we beat some major evil."

"Which isn't what we should be talking about now," Piper announced, again pushing sad things from her mind. "Cole just came back. Let's let him breathe without all this kind of talk. Paige, why don't we let Phoebe and Cole talk privately?"

When the door shut behind her sisters, Phoebe nervously faced Cole. It had been easier to forget that Cole had said neither that he loved her still nor that he wanted to work things out with her when her sisters were talking.

"I'm still confused as to why you brought me back. I need to pay for my crimes, you have to know that. I was doing that where I was, Phoebe."

He still hadn't said it. "I told you, you would still be doing good now, if I'd only let you. You deserve to be able to do that again. I think you've had enough punishment in Limbo. And you're sorry. That counts."

"It's my fault I didn't stay good. I didn't have to listen to you and actually start doing things that were wrong, just because you said I was evil."

"I should've helped you," she argued.

"I should've left you alone like you wanted, given you space. Protected innocents and fought for good because it's the right thing to do, not to prove anything to you or make you love me. And, when you weren't impressed, I shouldn't have turned back the other way. I knew better. You'd taught me better."

"You have another chance at good, at life, Cole. Stop fighting it."

"And were you serious, when you said I had another chance with you, too?" he asked. He held his breath waiting for her answer. It was only a millisecond later, without hesitation, but to Cole, that millisecond was longer than his 100 plus years of life. The answer that was to come would tell him if he could still have the one thing he cherished.

But, if it was to be no, that she'd spoken rashly and had since changed her mind, Cole told himself that this time he would let her and be. Then, he would go into the world and do good, because three years of reflecting had shown him that he really did want to be a force for the side of good.

She quickly nodded after his question. "Our love is too precious to throw away. We can make this work, forever. I won't let you slip away from me again. I love you; I always will, Cole. Nothing will ever change that."

They shared another passionate kiss.

"I love you, too, Phoebe," Cole whispered as he drew back.

And her heart soared.

**The End**


End file.
